When you name your consoles different things, you're creating the perception that they are unrelated. For example, the Corvette and the Silverado are both Chevrolet products but they have little to do with one another. This can lead to a bit of an identity problem in that the identity of each new console needs to be established each generation. If that fails then the console has the chance to drift into a limbo where the common consumer isn't really sure what to make of it. All they know is that it's made by Nintendo.
You have to assume that that the average potential customer is relatively uninformed, which means that it is YOUR job to inform them.
Sony avoids this by sticking to a numbered Playstation brand format. What is the PS4? Simple, it's the newest version of a Playstation home console. Using the car analogy, it's the newest model of the Corvette. Easy to understand.
IF Nintendo wants to stick with this naming convention then they have to MAKE TRIPLE DOG SURE that they set the image they want in the minds of the consumer--of course, that image also has to be something that people want.
I propose that the next Nintendo console be named the Nintendo Super Light Photon Canon (SLPC). This communicates that the console is bad-ass. Third-party publishers will flock, as will males of all ages. Have a Mario at launch, sure, if you want, but pin your launch campaign on something with space armor and lots of beam weapons. Bam, Nintendo joins the rest of the world.
The manipulation of perception is an important factor in the success of a new console.
